Chuck Crow / Plain DealerIndians manager Eric Wedge is trying to figure out how to split playing time at first base and behind the plate.

ASHTABULA --- Manager Eric Wedge touched on a number of subjects today while fielding questions from reporters and the crowd at the Mount Carmel Banquet Hall during a stop on the Indians press tour.

• On Travis Hafner's return from right shoulder surgery: "Short of seeing him on the field every day, I think he's right where he needs to be. I'm extremely confident he's going to be fine. I'm probably more confident than he is."

• On his expectations for Hafner: "I expect him to be an average major league championship middle-of-the-order bat."

• On who is going to get the most playing time among catchers Victor Martinez and Kelly Shoppach, first baseman Ryan Garko and DH Hafner: "We have an interesting dynamic at catcher and first base. Victor and Shoppach are both going to catch. I know Victor and Hafner are going to play every day and Shoppach will play a little more than he did last year. How much more depends on Shoppie.

"I think it's important that we have Kelly catch Cliff Lee and Victor catch Fausto Carmona. If I feel in time that we're better with Victor playing more first base, that's what we'll do."

Wedge made it clear that he's trying to be as respectful as possible toward Martinez, a team leader, in his handling of the catching situation.

"We want to include Victor in the process because of what he means to us," said Wedge.

• On where that leaves Garko, who tied Grady Sizemore for a team-high 90 RBI last year: "We're going to work out Garko and Josh Barfield in the outfield in spring training. It might not make it through spring training. It might not make it to one spring training game, but we'll see.

"If Garko is going to hit like he did in the second half last year, that's a bat we want in the lineup. I love Barfield's athleticism and speed. In the past, we've always been at our best when we've been the most versatile."

• On how newly-acquired Mark DeRosa will be used: "He's going to play mostly third base, but he's going to be popping into the outfield in left and right. That leaves third base open for Jamey Carroll against certain lefties. I'm also going to give Jhonny Peralta some reps at third base. He played there this winter and it makes sense to keep that option open."

• On the signing of closer Kerry Wood: "This was the first time we were able to get the guy we wanted to get. Kerry knows he's in the bullpen. He knows he's going to close. That's what he wants to do.

"Every bullpen starts with the closer. If you don't have that, it's going to be a long ride."

• On identifying and signing Wood over Brian Fuentes, who signed with the Angels to replace Francisco Rodriguez: "We earmarked Kerry Wood early on. Mark (Shapiro) and Chris (Antonetti) were very aggressive and the Dolan family allowed us to be very aggressive."

• On new reliever Joe Smith: "He's an interesting guy. At the end of last season, he was pitching set-up for the Mets. He's a sidearmer who is still on his way up. He gives us a new look coming out of the pen."

• On who will set up Wood: "The set-up men are the most abused in the bullpen. We've got four or five of them in Jensen Lewis, Smith, Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt and Masa Kobayashi. We're going to use them all."

• On the rotation: "This will be where most of our decision-making takes place. We have Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona and Carl Pavano. Then we have six or seven other guys for the last two spots."

• On free-agent gamble Pavano: "He's coming off four tough years in New York. He didn't have much go his way there ... We hope this is the start of second half of his career. It's a good risk for us."

• On having eight big-league players eligible to play in the World Baseball Classic for various countries: "We won't lose that many. It's a tough gig. We leave the final decision up to the players. If the pitchers aren't going to get that many innings and the position players aren't going to get that many at-bats, they've got to get their work in. It's an honor to play for your country, but we want them to go into this with their eyes wide open."

The eligible Indians are Grady Sizemore and DeRosa, Team USA; Carmona, Peralta and Perez, Dominican Republic; Betancourt, Venezuela; Shin-Soo Choo, South Korea; and Kobayashi, Japan. The WBC will be played from March 5 through March 23.

Wedge hinted that Carmona would probably not pitch for the Dominican Republic because of the time he spent on the disabled list last year with a right hip injury.

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